The month-long celebration kicks off with a play specially commissioned by the library from Ellen Stevens, a recent theatre graduate from the University of York, and will continue for a month until Saturday 9th August, when the festival will close with a party at the library.

Built in 1852, but with no formal records existing until 1862, Dringhouses Library was originally a school, until it was transformed into a library during the Second World War in 1942.

Other parts of the festival include a performance from chamber music group Bellissime of popular Victorian music and talks from local actor/storyteller Chris Cade and local author Tom Harper.